It was a real wrench as he turned the key and walked upstairs to the residence he shares with partner Nardeen Hayden, the instore proprietor.

In the past three months since they were told to close the doors, it’s been a very emotional time.

“Nardeen doesn’t want to be here. She’s just too sad,” Mr Bastion said.

Asked how he felt in the final hour of the 105-year-old bank’s trading yesterday, Mr Bastion said it had been very tough.

“I’ve been this close to breaking into tears for the past week-and-a-half,” he said.

Not one customer, neither personal nor business banking, had welcomed the closure, with most waiting until the final week to bite the bullet and change the way they bank.

Whether it’s the publican from across the road ducking in for some change, or the woman from Sport and Rec lamenting the half-hour drive into Tamworth she’ll have to take from Monday onwards – the bank will be missed.

The publican has had a slight win though, with the local credit union agreeing to extend its hours on Fridays from 3pm to 5pm – but it’s 3pm closure every other week day.

One of Mr Bastion’s very last customers was former Manilla builder Keith Freeman.

Mr Freeman had been a loyal customer of the bank for more than 30 years, even though he now lives at Kentucky (and has to travel in to Armidale to do his banking from there).

He can recall the days when the old Manilla bank manager occupied the office on the ground floor, taking a week to approve a home loan.

“I’ll tell you how good those old blokes were back then,” Mr Freeman said.

“I came in to get a home loan and he told me to go down the road to council, as their rates would be cheaper for the next three or four years, and to come back once the bank’s rates improved.

“The decision to close this was made in the city by people who wouldn’t know what it was to live in a country town and know your local banker.”

According to Mr Bastion, the problem is Westpac Manilla was just too good at what it did – with a net promoter score average of 9.6 (out of 10).

“We were just collateral damage. Westpac wants to get out of day-to-day teller transactions and just sell product – home loans, credit cards, insurance and the like,” he said.

“Ironically, there’s no money in money these days.”